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Child development Child development
Church and Development Church and Development
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Impact assessment Impact assessment
Water and sanitation Water and sanitation

Church and Development

Tearfund is strongly committed to involving the church, at local and national levels, in our work of integral mission. We believe that the ideal implementers of integral mission in each community are local church congregations, and we therefore believe that the primary means by which we can fulfil our mission of bringing good news to the poor is by enabling our partners to mobilise and empower local church congregations to transform their communities. 

The majority of our partners around the world work directly with the local and national church, and despite the challenges of such partnerships, they are able to point to numerous examples of personal and community transformation.
 
Related documents 

Please note: these documents are included for interest and discussion and are not necessarily Tearfund policy.

 

click here for all related documents
Characteristics of Christian development 

Tearfund aims to promote Christian development which is characterised by:

 

  • compassion and respect for those in need, regardless of their religious beliefs
  • justice - speaking up on behalf of the powerless and enabling them to speak up for themselves against injustice which leads to poverty
  • character - that the character of Christ should be evident in the way work is done - with righteousness and justice, mercy, and peacemaking
  • cultural sensitivity, recognising that the resources and knowledge of all cultures and communities are valuable
  • cultural transformation, recognising that no culture is without fault and that the values of the gospel challenge all cultures at some point
  • mutual accountability, trust and transparency
  • good leadership which puts others' needs first
  • empowerment which enables people to make choices, to have a voice and to become agents of change
  • participation of all in the community so that the community itself truly owns the projects carried out
  • sustainability - a process of ongoing personal and community change that comes from within the community itself
  • integration - helping communities to address their different needs through co-operation within the community and with other groups, both Christian and non-Christian

This page was last updated on 29 July 2008